Thursday, February 19, 2009

In 1971, I encouraged the publication of a small (47 page) booklet at what was then called Dharma Press, but was really housed in a commercial operation I jointly owned with a man named Marcus Johnson, called Rainbow Zenith Press, at Berkeley, California.

The rather ambitious title was Kalachakra Tibetan Astrological Chart, and it was compiled by Tarthang Rinpoche, who at the time was in his mid thirties, and still learning English, so "compiling" meant him talking, while whoever was handy did the writing.

I recall that proximate to this effort, I suddenly flew to New York with four friends on an adventure, wound up getting married by Trungpa Rinpoche at Tail of the Tiger in Barnet, Vermont, and then had to disappear on a professional fool's errand.

I think the person I married on that occasion now lives in San Diego County and reads this weblog sometimes.

Hi, honey.

Nevertheless, in the midst of all this flying around, getting married, and making the world safe for rubber and rice by holding back the crimson tide of Communism, I fear I completely neglected the little Kalachakra book.

It was completed anyway, by hands steadier than my own, and became famous for being the first exposition of Tibetan "lucky and unlucky days" in the English language. My main contribution to this work was proposing it, and then getting out of the way. The steady hands were those of Merrill Peterson and Rick Woodbury: two of Rinpoche's most loyal, industrious, and energetic, original twenty-five students in the United States.

Except.....

Except, I wasn't around to proofread and fact check the thing before the Harris LXD 17x22 sheetfed press rolled, and some little anomalies crept in. This has always bothered me. Not only did they creep into the book, but to every other source that made subsequent use of the book. Therefore, one sees these anomalies everywhere -- on the internet, in Cornu's book (p. 184), etc., etc.

Everywhere, that is, until 2007, when Edward Henning published his truly wonderful book Kalachakra and the Tibetan Calendar. You can purchase this remarkable book online, and I earnestly suggest you do so by clicking: here.

In his book, Mr. Henning provides us (at p. 181) with rather different information, that I reproduce herein, below. You can contrast this with the original information we published in 1971, and draw your own conclusions. Please note that what Mr. Henning calls "spirit mansion," we called the "foundation day;" what he calls "life mansion," we called "energy day;" what he calls "power mansion," we called "success day;" what he calls "obstacle mansion," we called "obstacle day;" what he calls "demon mansion," we called "emotional turbulence day," and what he calls "adversary mansion," we called "enemy day." In all cases, the days are reckoned according to the lunar calendar, so "27" for example, would be the 27th day of the lunar month.

RatSpirit Mansion: 19, we said 20Life Mansion: 5, we said 6Power Mansion: 2, we said 3Obstacle Mansion: 25, we said 26Demon Mansion: 9, we said 10Adversary Mansion: 22, we said 23

OxSpirit Mansion: 16, we said 17Life Mansion: 13, we said 14Power Mansion: 11, we said 12Obstacle Mansion: 1, we said 12 (!)Demon Mansion: 7, we said 18 (!)Adversary Mansion: 4, we said 5

TigerSpirit Mansion: 4, we said 5Life Mansion: 26, we said 27Power Mansion: 8, we said 9Obstacle Mansion: 13, we said 14Demon Mansion: 11, we said 12Adversary Mansion: 1, we said 3 (!)

RabbitSpirit Mansion: 10, we said 11Life Mansion: 26, we said 27Power Mansion: 11, we said 12Obstacle Mansion: 25, we said 26Demon Mansion: 14, we said 25 (!)Adversary Mansion: 17, we said 18

DragonSpirit Mansion: 2, we said 3Life Mansion: 23, we said 24Power Mansion: 16, we said 17Obstacle Mansion: 7, we said 8Demon Mansion: 8, we said 9Adversary Mansion: 10, we said 11

SnakeSpirit Mansion: 12, we said 13Life Mansion: 11, we said 12Power Mansion: 5, we said 6Obstacle Mansion: 7, we said 8Demon Mansion: 8, we said 9Adversary Mansion: 5, we said 6

HorseSpirit Mansion: 16, we said 17Life Mansion: 11, we said 12Power Mansion: 5, we said 6Obstacle Mansion: 19, we said 20Demon Mansion: 4, we said 5Adversary Mansion: 26, we said 27

SheepSpirit Mansion: 7, we said 8Life Mansion: 0, we said 1Power Mansion: 1, we said 2Obstacle Mansion: 19, we said 20Demon Mansion: 4, we said 5Adversary Mansion: 26, we said 27

MonkeySpirit Mansion: 7, we said 8Life Mansion: 0, we said 1Power Mansion: 1, we said 2Obstacle Mansion: 8, we said 9Demon Mansion: 4, we said 10 (!)Adversary Mansion: 16, we said 17

BirdSpirit Mansion: 13, we said 14Life Mansion: 8, we said 7 (!)Power Mansion: 24, we said 25Obstacle Mansion: 2, we said 3Demon Mansion: 10, we said 11Adversary Mansion: 23, we said 24

DogSpirit Mansion: 8, we said 9Life Mansion: 26, we said 27Power Mansion: 4, we said 5Obstacle Mansion: 10, we said 11Demon Mansion: 2, we said 3Adversary Mansion: 11, we said 12

PigSpirit Mansion: 1, we said 2Life Mansion: 7, we said 8Power Mansion: 10, we said 11Obstacle Mansion: 25, we said 26Demon Mansion: 2, we said 3Adversary Mansion: 11, we said 12

The astute reader will now scratch his or her head and wonder who is right, and who is wrong.

That's an interesting question, you know? Not having the primary source used by Mr. Henning, I cannot say whether his translation is accurate or not. At the same time, while I trust that Tarthang Rinpoche gave us correct information, I cannot say that we wrote it down correctly, and as stated above, I never looked back. In any event, the probative points of departure are noted above, in red (!) and I invite anybody who cares to start the inquiry thereupon.

2
reader comments:

Most of my sources are thousands of miles away in London, but I have three with me, one of which - the "baidurya dkar po" - should probably be considered the definitive one. Apart from two obvious typos in a modern almanac, they all agree with the values I have published. I have never come across any other tradition for these, so cannot comment on your early data. Hope this helps...

Most of my sources are thousands of miles away in London, but I have three with me, one of which - the "baidurya dkar po" - should probably be considered definitive. Apart from just two obvious typos in a modern almanac, they all agree with my figures, which I know were checked many years ago with multiple other sources. I have not come across any other tradition for these, so cannot comment on your earlier data. I shall email you a couple of scans of the relevant texts. Hope this helps,

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